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NCAAF Picks

College Football Picks: USC Trojans Future Betting Odds

When college football betting odds are released later in the summer, USC will not be the favorite to win the Pac-12 South, that will belong to UCLA.

Nevertheless, if you consider how much
and how far the Trojans program has changed since they lost to Arizona State
62-41 on the last Saturday of September, well, if the Men of Troy are on your
list of frequent college football picks, you have to like the direction they are headed.

USC Seeking Stability

From the time Peter Carroll
left for Seattle, words that easily roll out of one’s mouth are tumultuous and
upheaval. Lane Kiffin was a lightening rod for negative attention before he became
the Trojans head coach and nothing changed in his tenure. When USC was ambushed
in the desert by the Sun Devils, athletic director Pat Haden went with is gut
and fired Kiffin, which he said was "the best
decision for USC."

Ed Orgeron was
named interim coach and did a fantastic job at stabilizing an impossible
situation, leading the Trojans on a six-game winning streak. In the latter
stages of the streak Orgeron openly campaigned for the job, but Haden had other
ideas. In early December he hired former USC assistant and Washington head
coach Steve Sarkisian to run his team, which meant assistant Clay Helton would
be coaching the Las Vegas Bowl.

Four head coaches
in just over nine weeks, USC has to hope they found the right person.

Trojans Have to Overcome Recruiting Shortages

Kiffin and Sarkisian were
both very aware of what they were walking into at USC. The NCAA came down hard
on the football program for “lack of institutional control” and limited
scholarships dramatically.

College football handicappers
for years have watched USC injury reports because the number of available
scholarship players has been no more than 70, leaving the Trojans to serious
depth issues.

This will be the last year of
the sanctions, but even Sarkisian acknowledges "We'll
probably feel the effects of those sanctions for two more seasons, quite
honestly,"

He understands
no matter how many 5* recruits he brings in this year, he has a way to go to
develop quality at all positions.

Cody Kessler
finished the season as “the guy’ under center for the Trojans but with a brand
new coaching staff and redshirt freshman sensation Max Browne, the competition
will be fierce.

Whoever is
quarterback, wide receiver Nelson Agholor will
be No. 1 target. With Sarkisian, expect the use of the tight end to be more a
factor.

The college football odds might
not be stacked against USC, but having to replace three starters from what was
already a thin group will not be easy. The presumption is the Men of Troy hope
to put together a semblance of a good offensive line and let talented backs
like Javorius Allen, Tre Madden and Ty Isaac earn their way to playing time.

Defense will be Fine, without Injuries

USC had a few
losses on the other side of the ball when safety
Dion Bailey and lineman George Uko left early for the NFL Draft. But the rest
of the defense returns largely intact, including DE Leonard Williams, LB Hayes
Pullard and S Su’a Cravens. The real question here is the continuity and how
quickly everything comes together. While the talent is in place, the defense
will be susceptible to wearing down in the second half of the season and
injures would cause major issues.

Schedule Will Still Be Rugged

In an unusual twist, USC
faced Fresno State in their bowl game and will play them again in their first
contest of the year. This will be followed by a very early Pac-12 matchup at
Stanford and the very next week they will fly cross-country to Boston College.
Those making college football picks will no doubt be focused on those two
games.

After a bye week Oregon State
and Arizona State will be L.A. the latter a big payback encounter. The rest of
the schedule is home and away until the last two weeks when the Trojans have to
prepare for cross-town rival UCLA at their place and back home for the season
finale with Notre Dame.

Recruiting Efforts

On national
signing day, USC addressed their top need, with five offensive linemen and four
were rated as 4* studs. Rivals.com rated this as the No. 10 class, but the
signings of Adoree' Jackson, Juju Smith and Damien Mama gave the Trojans the
elite talent only LSU and Florida State could match as first-year players.

Way Too Early Conclusion

At this juncture, Sark’s
squad figures to be underdogs at Stanford and at UCLA. A victory in either
location could set up at least a 10-win.